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M87 Commander
The M87 Commander Heavy Tank served Her Majesty's Royal Infantry and Her Majesty's Royal Marines during the Cold War. Until the development of the T-01 Hammer in the mid-1970s, it was the heaviest and most heavily armed tank in Elipian service. The M87 was manufactured at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant and the first units were accepted in 1957. Design and development The M87 Commander was developed to counter the emerging Soviet Heavy Tanks like the Joseph Stalin Tank and the T-10 should a conventional Third World War break out. While the tank is generally an updated M90 Heavy Tank, the engine and transmission were never modified enough to give the extra power needed for the greater weight of the M87, and as a result, the tank was relatively underpowered and the drive systems were fragile. The 120mm cannon and soon the 150mm cannon were designed to hit and penetrate Soviet armor at extreme distances to compensate for its low top speed. The turret of the M87 was larger than that of the T39 Medium Tank or the M80 Heavy Tank to make room for the huge 120mm and the later 150mm gun and the two loaders assigned to it, in addition to the gunner and the commander. The driver sat in the hull. The gun was capable of elevation from +15 to -10 degrees. One feature of particular note was the rotating commander's cupola, which was at the heart of the Conqueror's fire control system, advanced for its time. The commander could align the cupola on a target independently of the turret, measure the range with a coincidence rangefinder, and then direct the gunner on to the new lay mechanically indicated to him by the cupola. In theory, when the gunner traversed to the new lay he would find the target already under his sights, ready to be engaged. Meanwhile, the commander was free to search for the next target. The system may have been inspired by a similar device, without range finder, installed in WWII German Panzers which was apparently highly successful. Armor The armor was made from welded rolled and cast homogeneous steel of varying thickness The armor was very heavy for the time, especially in the front horizontal plane. Unfortunately, this, along with the weight of the huge turret required to house the large gun and the very large hull volume, made the vehicle very heavy, giving it a relatively low top speed and making it mechanically unreliable. Also, few bridges could support its weight. However the M87 Commander had exceptional terrain handling characteristics and proved to be as capable cross country as the lighter T39 Medium Tank. Variants *'M87' 1944. 500 were built *'M87A1' 1959. 350 converted or rebuilt. New sight (Steroscopic T52) and T33 ballistic computer. Removed one coaxial machine gun. New turret electric amplidyne system traverse. Turret basket. *'M87A2' 1964. 298 converted or rebuilt. New 750 hp (559 kW) diesel engine, increasing the road range to 480 km and maximum speed to 37 km/h. New sight coincidence *'M87E1' 1957. Tank recovery version of the M87 Commander. Operators * The United Royal Kingdom **Her Majesty's Royal Army - Operated 200 M87, 129 of them were converted **Her Majesty's Royal Marines - Operated 300 M87, 211 of them were converted * The Republic of Dai Shihai **The Revolutionary Army - Operated 300 Leased M87 tanks. See Also *The Diplomatic Colony of The United Royal Kingdom of Elipida *T39 Medium Tank Category:Armoured Fighting Vehicle